Genetic diversity of Clarias anguillaris from the Bakoye River in Mali

Abstract

Clarias anguillaris is a wild species found in River basins in Mali. It is the species most commonly used in fish farming in community stockings. However, it excites little study on the genetic diversity of this species in the natural environment in Mali. The present study focused on the genetic diversity of Clarias anguillaris from the Bakoye River, a tributary of the Senegal River in Mali. A total of (8) microsatellite markers were applied to 47 samples taken at random from the River. The markers were Cga02, Cga03, Cga06, Cga10, Cba11, Cba19, Cba20 and Cma12. The number of alleles, the number of genotype, genetic diversity, Polymorphism Information content (PIC), observed and expected heterozygosity were determined. The results showed that the number of alleles ranged from 1 to 7, with an average of 4.25 per locus. The mean rate of observed heterozygosity was 0.34 lower than that of expected heterozygosity which was 0.48 indicating nonconformity of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The allele frequency ranged from 0.35 at the Cba19 locus to 1 at the Cba11 locus, with a mean of 0.62. Genetic diversity ranged from 0 for Cba11 to 0.75 for Cba19. The markers Cga02, Cga03, Cga06, Cba19, Cba20 and Cma12 were polymorphic with an average peak of 0.42. The phylogenetic tree presented two groups of genotypes showing diversity within the species. Group I comprised 60.42% of individuals and group II presented 39.58% with 3 subgroups (A, B and C). The genetic distance (0.05) indicates little differentiation between individuals.